They begin to build a $1 billion power plant in Panama

Panama City, 22 Mar The construction of a natural gas-based electric generator with an investment of 1 billion dollars, by InterEnergy Group and AES Panama, began this Tuesday in Panama with an event attended by the country's president, Laurentino Cortizo. “With an investment of $1 billion, the construction of this plant will generate more than 3,000 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs, which is good for the Panamanian economy and especially that of (the province of) Colón,” Cortizo said as part of the first shovel of the Generadora Gatún project. “The project is being managed by Grupo Energético Gas Panama, made up of InterEnergy Group (51%) and AES Panama (49%),” the government said in a statement. Generadora Gatún, located on Telfers Island, in the Caribbean province of Colón, will produce 670 megawatts (MW) using natural gas as a source. Construction of the new power plant, which will be connected to the transmission network via a new line, between the Sabanitas and Panama III substations, is expected to be completed by 2024. Generadora Gatún will replace the thermal plants that have already been removed from the Panamanian electricity system, moving towards a much cleaner and more efficient energy matrix, the government said. With this project, a combined cycle plant that will have two gas turbines and one steam turbines, Panama will be approaching a low-carbon economy and meeting the carbon-neutral target by 2050, official information said. The new plant “will contribute to stabilizing the national electricity tariff, allowing the cost of energy to be significantly reduced in the future,” Cortizo said. He emphasized that among the benefits of this foreign investment is the expansion of the country's installed generating capacity, which “contributes to meeting the need for cleaner energy at a better price, which favors economic growth in the short and medium term.” In June 2021, when this major electricity project was announced, Cortizo reported that InterEnergy would have “51% of the shares (of the consortium responsible for the work), the State 25% of the shares and AES the remaining 24% stake. As a shareholder, Panama will not have to put a single cent into this investment,” the Panamanian president said at the time.